Misuse of sacramentals?

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cgoodson2002

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I am a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in my parish. I recently had an idea: taking a Rosary to the people I visit (who are usually not Catholics) as a gift, along with a pamphlet on how to say the Rosary. Who knows where a seed sown will germinate, right?

So, I was all prepared to purchase a bunch of Rosaries and have them blessed by my priest, but then it occurred to me: suppose the recipient does not treat the Rosary with reverence? For example, tosses it into a tool drawer, throws it away, wears it as a piece of jewelry, etc., etc.

This worry has made me hesitate about doing it, much as I would love to think that it might lead some of them to The Faith.

I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts about this.
 
Get the rosaries.

Have your Priest bless them.

Give them away.

They won’t be relics. (And if they become relics… brownie points for Purgatory… win-win)

End of discussion.
 
cgoodson2002 said:
I am a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in my parish. I recently had an idea: taking a Rosary to the people I visit (who are usually not Catholics) as a gift, along with a pamphlet on how to say the Rosary. Who knows where a seed sown will germinate, right?

So, I was all prepared to purchase a bunch of Rosaries and have them blessed by my priest, but then it occurred to me: suppose the recipient does not treat the Rosary with reverence? For example, tosses it into a tool drawer, throws it away, wears it as a piece of jewelry, etc., etc.

This worry has made me hesitate about doing it, much as I would love to think that it might lead some of them to The Faith.

I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts about this.
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well, if you give someone something as a gift, it’s then up to them what they choose to do with it, you are not responsible for something that is no longer in your possession

anything that’s handed out has the potentiall of being mistreated, bibles, prayer cards, pamphlets with religious texts and images, books, CDs, EtC…

the alternative is to stop giving out anything out of fear, but then we wouldn’t be spreading the faith, would we?

you could also give out rosaries that are not blessed, they wouldn’t be sacramental per see, but they are still rosaries
 
cgoodson2002 said:
I am a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in my parish. I recently had an idea: taking a Rosary to the people I visit (who are usually not Catholics) as a gift, along with a pamphlet on how to say the Rosary. Who knows where a seed sown will germinate, right?

So, I was all prepared to purchase a bunch of Rosaries and have them blessed by my priest, but then it occurred to me: suppose the recipient does not treat the Rosary with reverence? For example, tosses it into a tool drawer, throws it away, wears it as a piece of jewelry, etc., etc.

This worry has made me hesitate about doing it, much as I would love to think that it might lead some of them to The Faith.

I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts about this.
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So you are wondering if instead of the chance they might misuse them you should keep them away from everyone? What if we did that with bibles or just preaching the gospel…
“I’m not going to tell you about Jesus because you might misunderstand it?”

That being said, I get tons of stuff in the mail from lots of catholic charities. And sometimes you just have to throw it out…
 
I apologize for upsetting a few people by asking this question… it’s just that my understanding (limited, obviously!) of sacramentals is that defiling them is akin to sacrilege. I hope you all will take into account that my intention is charitable, a desire to spread the knowledge of the precious Catholic Faith that is the great treasure of my life. +
 
cgoodson2002 said:
I apologize for upsetting a few people by asking this question… it’s just that my understanding (limited, obviously!) of sacramentals is that defiling them is akin to sacrilege. I hope you all will take into account that my intention is charitable, a desire to spread the knowledge of the precious Catholic Faith that is the great treasure of my life. +
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Nobody is upset.
At all.
It’s odd you would think that.
 
Your response was pretty hostile.

"So you are wondering if instead of the chance they might misuse them you should keep them away from everyone? What if we did that with bibles or just preaching the gospel…
“I’m not going to tell you about Jesus because you might misunderstand it?”
 
cgoodson2002 said:
Your response was pretty hostile.

"So you are wondering if instead of the chance they might misuse them you should keep them away from everyone? What if we did that with bibles or just preaching the gospel…
“I’m not going to tell you about Jesus because you might misunderstand it?”
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Not hostile. Just pointing out that if you apply logic it doesn’t play.
I agree with another poster that scruples might be at play here. It is common on the boards. The best response to it is logic, and the advice to talk to a priest. So, when you get them blessed, talk to the priest…
 
cgoodson2002 said:
I apologize for upsetting a few people by asking this question… it’s just that my understanding (limited, obviously!) of sacramentals is that defiling them is akin to sacrilege. I hope you all will take into account that my intention is charitable, a desire to spread the knowledge of the precious Catholic Faith that is the great treasure of my life. +
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How can a person commit a sacrilege if they have no clue that they would be doing such? You are overthinking the whole matter.

Further, I would not be handing out rosaries - blessed or not - to someone if they did not want it. You might, for starters, ask them if they have any interest.

If they don’t, problem solved.

If they do, problem solved.

I am not particularly enamored with people calling at my door trying to give me tracts (though I will admit that one of two women from the local Jehovah’s Witness was an absolute knockout). I decline them; if they insist; I take them in order to not make a dustup, and immediately transport them to the recycling bag upon closing the door. And I suspect that a goodly number of the people you call upon may have the same response. Some, particularly if they are Protestant, may feel that we worship Mary, and be downright insulted.

You have a good heart and good intentions, but there are better ways to deal with the issue.
 
otjm said:
And I suspect that a goodly number of the people you call upon may have the same response. Some, particularly if they are Protestant, may feel that we worship Mary, and be downright insulted.

You have a good heart and good intentions, but there are better ways to deal with the issue.
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This, absolutely. I am involved in the ecumenical scene, and was pretty startled when an invitation to a Good Friday service was firmly declined by the local Baptists when I told them that ONE - I repeat, only One - Hail Mary would be said.

We can go on all we like about the Hail Mary being scripturally-based, but the ending is definitely bordering on offensive to some non-Catholics.
 
Very good points that had not occurred to me; I will discuss this with my parish priest. Thank you!
 
JimmyG88 said:
I hate seeing rosaries used as jewellery
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It depends. In many Hispanic cultures they can be jewelry of sorts and it can be a pious gesture. It can also be used as fashion or superficially and that drives me nuts as well.
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
It depends. In many Hispanic cultures they can be jewelry of sorts and it can be a pious gesture. It can also be used as fashion or superficially and that drives me nuts as well.
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It still jars a little with me to see a rosary worn. But if it’s cultural and respectful I should get over myself. However in The UK where I live I loathe seeing people wear them as an accessory. In fact I tell them it offends me slightly and it’s not respectful of my culture
 
JimmyG88 said:
It still jars a little with me to see a rosary worn. But if it’s cultural and respectful I should get over myself. However in The UK where I live I loathe seeing people wear them as an accessory. In fact I tell them it offends me slightly and it’s not respectful of my culture
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Yeah I see where that would be offensive. And I would probably do the same.
Or offer to pray with them. Some high schoolers around here wear them for fashion. They have no idea what it is even called much less how to use it.
Wouldn’t it be fun to take someone like that, tell them what the rosary is and teach them how to pray it. You might make a convert. But then again you might get a restraining order…😃
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
Yeah I see where that would be offensive. And I would probably do the same.
Or offer to pray with them. Some high schoolers around here wear them for fashion. They have no idea what it is even called much less how to use it.
Wouldn’t it be fun to take someone like that, tell them what the rosary is and teach them how to pray it. You might make a convert. But then again you might get a restraining order…😃
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Ha ha ha! Highly likely I imagine
 
I wanted to follow up on this question that I posted awhile back, just to say that instead of rosaries, I am going to take a crucifix as a gift on the home visits that I do for St. Vincent de Paul, because I think those would generally not be objectionable to non-Catholics, as some have suggested. Also, I am not going to have these crucifixes blessed. I really appreciate all the thoughts that have been offered to me in response to this concern! +
 
cgoodson2002 said:
I wanted to follow up on this question that I posted awhile back, just to say that instead of rosaries, I am going to take a crucifix as a gift on the home visits that I do for St. Vincent de Paul, because I think those would generally not be objectionable to non-Catholics, as some have suggested. Also, I am not going to have these crucifixes blessed. I really appreciate all the thoughts that have been offered to me in response to this concern! +
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Round 2: Some of the Protestant groups are offended with a crucifix; they want to see a cross without the corpus. That is not only not worth arguing about, but is also something to keep in mind.

Again, I have no question of your good heart or best intentions. However, offending people because they have a different view of what is proper (or right) and what is improper (or wrong) most generally is not a particularly good way to share your faith.

Again, asking, rather than simply offering, would seem to be a better approach than just presenting.

I sincerely appreciate the work you do for St. Vincent de Paul. However, not understanding that some people may have strong sensitivities which differ from yours can distract, rather than add to what you are trying to accomplish. If you are really intent on providing them with something, asking first will solve a good bit of the issue; and understanding that they might prefer a cross rather than a crucifix might go a long way to not stepping on either their toes or yours.
 
HaHa, yes, I am going to tell them that we won’t help them unless they accept a crucifix, and I will stay there until they do 🙂 You must think I am some kind of lunatic 🙂

Have a great day!
 
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